Prospective, community-based surveillance systems for measuring birth, death, and population movement rates may have advantages over the ‘gold-standard’ retrospective household survey in humanitarian contexts. A community-based, monthly surveillance system was established in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in partnership with a local implementing partner and the national ministry of health. Data were collected on the occurrence of births, deaths, arrivals, and departures over the course of one year, and a retrospective survey was conducted at the end of the period to validate the information. Discrepancies between the two approaches were resolved by a third visit to the households with discordant records. The study found that the surveillance system was superior in terms of its specificity and sensitivity in measuring crude mortality and birth rates as compared to the survey, demonstrating the method's potential to measure accurately important population-level health metrics in an insecure setting in a timely, community-acceptable manner. 相似文献
ABSTRACTCitizens’ attitudes toward science are related to their use of science-related information from various sources. Evidence is scarce regarding citizens’ individual media repertoires for staying informed about science as segmentation studies so far have primarily focused on scientific attitudes. In this paper, we explore audience segments regarding their science-related information behavior and whether such segments are comparable or vary between two countries with similar information environments. Based on two surveys in Switzerland and Germany, we identify national audience segments that differ in their science-related information repertoires, and analyze their sociodemographic characteristics and science-related attitudes. In both countries, we find very comparable information user segments ranging from those who inform themselves frequently about science (“Active Seekers”/“Science Consumers”) to those who hardly get in contact with any information about science and research (“Non-Users”). Those segments which get in contact with information about science frequently show generally more positive attitudes. 相似文献
The extreme density of population of Gibraltar, situated at the southern tip of Spain, exerts considerable pressure on land use and thus future planning is of utmost importance. An initial reconnaissance soil geochemical survey of Gibraltar was based on 120 surface samples (0–15 cm) taken from a wide range of exposed, either bare soil or vegetated sites, to provide the optimum geographical distribution. The total elemental concentrations of 26 elements (Li, Na, K, Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Al, La, Ti, V, Cr, Mo, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ag, Zn, Cd, Pb, P, S, As) were determined by nitric/percholric acid digestion followed by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) analysis. The reconnaissance data shows that the spatial distribution of various elements depended on previous and present land use. Most elements (Ca, Cr, Mg and Mn excluded) exhibited relatively high concentrations in civilian and natural soils. Trends have been established for many elements, and concentrations exceeding guideline values have been found in certain areas of Gibraltar. This reconnaissance of Gibraltar is at present being followed by a more detailed baseline geochemical survey, which will establish the extent and magnitude of the variations in major and trace elements in soils and dusts, assess the impact of industrial, commercial and urban development on the geochemical landscape and to make recommendations concerning sustainable development. 相似文献
Objective: Adaptive cruise control (ACC), a technology that allows for automated car following, is becoming increasingly prevalent. Previous surveys have shown that drivers generally regard ACC as pleasant but that they have to intervene when the ACC reaches its operational limits. The former research has been mostly concerned with specific car brands and does not fully reflect the diversity of ACC types in traffic today. The objective of the present research was to establish the determinants of pleasure in using ACC.
Methods: A 55-item online questionnaire was completed by Dutch users of diverse ACC systems.
Results: Respondents (N = 182) rated their ACC highly, with a mean score of 8.0 on a scale from 1 (extraordinarily negative) to 10 (extraordinarily positive) and were most pleased with ACC on high-speed roads and in low-density traffic. Moreover, the findings point to specific operational limits such as associated with cut-in situations. Pleasure was greater for the types of ACC that are able to decelerate to a full stop, according to 48% of our sample. An analysis of the free-response items indicated that respondents who were displeased with ACC mentioned its occasional clumsiness and the dangerous situations it may evoke, whereas those who were pleased with ACC valued the complementarity of human and machine and emphasized the roles of responsibility and experience in using ACC.
Conclusion: Pleasure in using ACC is a function of both technological advances and human factors. 相似文献